I had just finished (finally!) reading “The Name of the Rose,” the novel by Umberto Eco. I had previously read his “Focault’s Pendulum,” something a bit sci-fi, but a great mystery novel nonetheless.
As I’d like to believe it, “The Name of the Rose” is the forerunner of “The Da Vinci Code.” In fact, I’m not even sure I want to line the latter novel with the former. “Da Vinci,” surely, was great at the suspense part but sucked when it came to factual basis. The paintings mentioned therein were nowhere close to the truth. At least, in “The Name of the Rose,” it made no allusion to things which did not truly exist. To a certain extent, however, it reflected what is happening today with the Church.
The plot of the story is set at the time when the Church is no longer about spreading the word of God but of grabbing, gaining and staying in power. Adso, the narrator, relates of a mysterious event in the Abbey, which, together with Brother William, they solve to determine who is behind the murders that occured in the Abbey.
The novel, however, is so much more than a mere “who-done-it.” It tells of how even monks during the very early times of christianity, was already beset by infidelity to the vows of celibacy. In fact, even Adso himself relates how he has been seduced by (and eventually copulated with) a woman, who would give sexual favors in exchange of food. I found it amazing how prostitution was already existent during such a time. What I also found remarkable in the book was its horrific description of the burnings and tortures committed against suspected heresiarchs. Indeed, the most gruesome crimes have been committed in the name of religion. At bottom of the murders, the investigators also uncover homosexual relationships that seem to have been common in that abbey and which was the motivating cause for the killings.
I was perplexed by its ending, however. I don’t know whether to be annoyed or to be astounded that the mastermind of the murders there committed was moved by the desire to keep secret a certain book/manuscript. But I suppose it’s just me. Sometimes, a book has to be read at the right time, when the mind is open. Perhaps, some other day I might read it again and then fully comprehend the ending. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful novel and I do not regret having spent money on such a book.
